3, 2, 1, contract

[desh]

[Desh] and [my roommate] hereby sell all leaven (defined to also include food containing leaven, possible leaven, and all kind of leaven mixtures, as well as leaven that tends to harden and adhere to inside surfaces of pans, pots, or cooking utensils, or the utensils themselves) in their apartment at [address], Philadelphia, PA, as well as any leaven of which they are unaware (whether in the apartment, or owned by either or both of them in any other location), to [my non-Jewish coworker], for a sum of $5500.00. This transfer of possession of the leaven will go into effect at 7:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Friday, April 18, 2008, regardless of whether any money has been paid. [Desh] and [my roommate] relinquish all claim to the leaven at that time.

If the full sum of $5500.00 has not been paid to [Desh] and/or [my roommate] by 9:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Sunday, April 27, 2008, then all goods (leaven and money) will revert to their previous owners, and this transaction will be null and void from that time on.

This transaction will be valid upon the signatures of all three parties.

(Note: If you definitively know of some halachic problem with the wording here, please don't tell me until after Passover. I really don't want to know. If you just have questions, though, from any background or angle or perspective, feel free to ask!)

Comments

[kazulrw.livejournal.com]

so, what actually happens here? does any of the stuff actually get moved, or is it just not technically yours during the week of passover?

[nnaylime.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's interesting! I didn't know that was a part of the observance.

You'd been on my mind recently anyway, due to a convergence of politics and religion that amused me. My last name is common among Jews, and even more among historically politically powerful Jewish families in Washington, DC. So, apparently Hillary Clinton now thinks I'm Jewish (which given where I live and the influence some members of that family still have, is a reasonably safe guess) because I recently got an automated email wishing me a Happy Passover. I'm wondering what sort of algorithm got employed to scan the database, because not everyone among my friends who are supporters got one - including some of whom are Jewish but have last names like Morris and Miller didn't.

From what I understand, she's been taking steps to be very aware in that regard, from pushing to do away with caucuses that take place on Saturdays, to scheduling some of the rallies at times that don't overlap with observances. Haven't heard anything about Obama, but I've not been watching as closely either.

[alanscottevil.livejournal.com]

It's a loophole, created by the rabbis in olden times so that people would be able to observe the Passover rule of not having any leaven/baked goods even if it would be otherwise impossible or very difficult for them. So you hide all your leaven in a closet, and sell it to a non-Jew, who can then sell it back to you after the holiday.

[dorchadas]

What? You mean I could have gotten five grand out of you instead of a quarter?

Man. If only I had known. ^_~

[dagoski.livejournal.com]

Hey, I won't cast any stones here. The faithful of my religion in 1998 believed that the Sex Goddesses would come down in UFOs and takes us all to high orbit to watch the destruction of the earth.

Too bad, the lead prophet read the book upside down. Looks like the Rupture will actually happen in the year 8661.

[desh]

No, had I done it this way that year, it would've been you giving me 5 grand (but only if you actually want to keep the stuff).

[outcastspice.livejournal.com]

why'd you pick $5500?

my dad still sells their chametz through the shul that they moved across the country away from two years ago, and he includes mine in it :)

[outcastspice.livejournal.com]

really? what religion?

[desh]

Usually, nothing actually transfers, though ideally the person to whom the food is sold will genuinely have access to it during the holiday.

In an even more ideal situation, you'd use up or give away all non-kosher-for-Passover food before the holiday starts anyway, and this is just another level of protection against potentially owning something bad. (Yet another level of protection is the disclaimer you recite just before the holiday, essentially saying, "Any chametz I own and don't know I own is now like the dust of the earth, and will never be considered food again." This one is obviously meant to cover crumbs and caked-on stuff on pots and the like, not actual food.) But sometimes that's not practical, because you have real food (not crumbs and so on) that isn't financially realistic to get rid of. Large jars of stuff that you can't possibly use in a year, and so on. So a sale like this is the only way.

[desh]

Copied from Ben D, whose contract from last year I cribbed from heavily. No idea why he picked it.

[desh]

Heh, Rupture.

[desh]

So, apparently Hillary Clinton now thinks I'm Jewish

Mazel tov!!!

And good for Clinton. I'm under no delusions about Jews, or observant Jews, being one of the more discriminated-against or unaccomodated groups in the country. We're definitely pretty far down on the list. But Saturday caucuses and the like do bother me, and it's nice to see people with power realizing the problem there.

[dagoski.livejournal.com]

[dorchadas]

I think I preferred getting the matzah at the end. It's pretty tasty when you can go eat something else if you get sick of it.

[outcastspice.livejournal.com]

ah yes, i've heard of this. thanks.

[kazulrw.livejournal.com]

oh, okay. does that mean that you don't use any of those pots and pans or whatever, or did you just sell the crumbs that might be stuck to the pan?

[desh]

Yeah, you definitely don't use the same pots and pans. Sometimes you scrub and kasher them like I mentioned in a recent post, until they're spotless and definitely don't have anything stuck to them. But most people will more often just use separate cookware for Passover, and keep it in storage the other 51 weeks a year.

[cynara-linnaea.livejournal.com]

Your title is terrible. I hadn't thought of that show in years.

[tobeginagain.livejournal.com]

The title was my favorite part of this post!

[kazulrw.livejournal.com]

okay, that explains the $5500 a little better. thanks, I feel enlightened. :)

[bz-mahrabu.livejournal.com]

We had started with $5000 a couple years before, but then I asked for cost-of-living increases.

(This year we didn't actually sell chameitz - we got rid of all our actual explicit chameitz beforehand, and relied on an opinion that all the maybe-chameitz things, like open containers of non-chameitz that chameitz might have fallen into, shouldn't be eaten, but also don't have to be sold, since they're covered by the nullification. It's also rare that I'm actually spending Pesach in my apartment, rather than just selling everything and going to family for the week.)